A couple of days in the Hunter to relax….
A couple of photos of really old cars….
A couple of chances for some bees to sting me while I photographed yellow flowers…
A couple of cool people who bought be a new Tampa Bay Buccaneers Jersey for my 30th (My team!)
A couple of days till I head to New Zealand!!!!!
Rock….. oh yes, Rock on!!!

It has been a big week.
It has been a weird week.
I fear it is going to be a long post! Strap yourself in if you are up for the ride (since I am writing it at 3:40 in the AM, it could be a bumpy ride!)
#1
Monday. Greek Exam.
An experience somewhat like having teeth removed without the pleasant effects of any anaesthetic. Still it is over & I am free from that & that is a good thing.
I surprised many (including myself) by staying in after having finished my exams. I didn’t feel like heading down to the pub. I have been there several times since though, as I shall outline.
#2
A visit to the Royal North Shore (RNS) Hospital.
Dinner had been eaten. Dave (commonly known as “poochy”) threw something at Rachael. She splashed him with water, so he picked her up & started to carry her to the fountain.
Rach, a spirited lass, swung out with a leg, manageding to connect a glancing blow to Dave’s head. Not enough to really hurt him or anything, but enough to shock him, causing him to drop Rach & for Rach to land on her head!
One cracking sound, two anxious nurses (one of whom is her boyfriend) and three minutes later & I am heading off to the hospital with Rach, Steve (the boyfriend & my good mate) and Rochelle (another Nurse & friend & college).
Of course, there are hospitals that are closer, but the RNS happens to be close to my favourite pub, the “Great Northern” and Steve & I were hoping that we would be out fast enough to score a drink or two aftewards! That was not the case…. 6 or more hours it took! Luckily, Steve brough my Narnia Series books with him (He & Rach had been reading them) so I got to read about 50 pages aloud to the other three (The Magicians Nephew) and we got to goof around a little in the hopital.

#3 The Tour of our dorm by the girls.
Next year, the girls are going to end up in the dorm that we are currently in & we get theirs. It was decided that they should get a tour of “RHG” on the thursday morning. We of course, wanted to make sure that it was a good thing for them. We cleaned up a fair bit & made the place look nice.
We also got a picture of one of the girls, photocopied it 130 times & stuck in on every available bit of wall space in a guys room!
It looked pretty freaky. I also printed out a “LIz’s Favourites” list, that went through things that she liked & we highlighted a week-planner with all of her classes listed on it. The effect was a room that looked like a shrine. The plan was that as the girls would come down the hall, all the rooms would be locked but this one. The tour guide (my mate Cam) would lead them past the room, but not stop there, choosing instead to head down to a room further down the hall. All it took was for one girl to look in and the job would be done.
The chicks saw it. The chicks freaked, the chicks laghed. It was good times…
Liz, however, was a little freaked by it. We picked her, cause she is very well adjusted. We were thankful that we didn’t try it on someone less so….

#4 The Party
So I am Thirty. I had a little gathering to celebrate the fact!
The day before? Pouring rain.
The morning of? Bucketing rain.
Twenty minutes before the party started? The sun rears its head!
The duration on the party? Sunny and happy!
A couple of hours after the party? The rain sets back in.
God was gracious in regard to the weather, though my friend Caz who was having her thirtieth that night might not have felt so….
It was a great day & a good opportunity to see a lot of friends, even if I didn’t get to catch up with any of them well enough. I also got to hang out with the Nieces and Nephews which is ALWYAYS a valuable things!
(Would you believe that I didn’t take a single picture the whole day!!!!)
#5 So here we are.
I’ve just about moved out of my room at college. I will finish the job tomorrow morning. Then it is off to the Hunter Valley for a couple of days, before back for Youth Group, hanging out for the weekend, CHurch, then off to New Zealand on Monday!!!
Good times!
Still here? I applaud your patience!

Oh, have no fear, I’m still alive!
But there are big things afoot. Things I can’t talk about right now, that will be discussed very soon.
Yeah, I’m definately alive….

Birthdays that fall in the middle of exams… bah!
It creeps up, crafty, silent, vulpine, then strikes!
You work with youth, you love hanging out with kids, you still buy your clothes at fashionable places.
Face it brother, it is gone, any idea that you are still a “young adult” has been thrown out the door.
30 has struck. Where do I pick up some sensible pants, prescription glasses and heavy mortgages?
Or can I do it? Can I continue to convince myself that I am young.
Hmmm, I guess time will tell…. but time is running out.

Caroline & I enjoying the Sydney view
It has been a good weekend all in all. A fair bit of study done, and a couple of good opportunities to catch up with people. As you can see above, I got to catch up with my friend Caroline, a Swedish girl I know from Scotland. Not to be confused with the only other person who has visited me from Scotland… Caroline the Swedish girl….
So I know two Swedish Carolines & they have both been in Sydney in the last couple of months. It was great to catch up with this one. To maintain some kind of symmetry, I did some similar stuff with this Caroline as I did with the other. Off to the “Australian Hotel” for some great Aussie beer, then off to Ball’s head (after walking over the Harbour Bridge) to enjoy a great Aussie view. We certainly had the weather for it too!
Straight after that, I was off to Blue’s Point for a farewell picnic for Darren & Simone, one of our ministers & his wife (not forgetting their 2 kids) who are heading off to another church. It was a great time to spend hanging out with a bunch of families & their kids. I really have an awesome church with lots of great people in it. I will have to post some of the pictures that Grace (all of 16) took when I let her play with my camera for a while. The young shoulnd’t be so talented.
So, this is not a particularly inspiring update. I guess I am trying to save all my real creativity for the 4 exams I have this week & the one next week. Wish me luck!
In the mean time, check out this great bug that sat with my while I studied yesterday. Click on this or any other photo to follow a link to my flickr photo site where you can see more pics of the bug & more pics in general.
Adios

( Chelsea and Craig enjoying breakfast at Bondi after a job well-done.)
I’m the first to admit that I’ve called it an “Un-Godly hour” before, but I take it all back. I’m not saying it was easy to get up that early. Having gotten to bed around 12:30ish, I was a little worse for wear when the alarm rang at 4:30 on Saturday morning. Still, a hot shower & and a can of “V” energy drink & it was all good.
As I walked down to the car, heavy-laden with all my camera gear, I have to admit that I was feeling pretty good. It’s quiet, there is the faintest chill in the air (but still warm enough to be happy in shorts) and the world is still in blessed repose.
The stereo started on, but got turned off after a minute or two. It was nice enough to just soak in the lights, the air, the quiet. It’s all beautiful.
It got me thinking.
It’s a busy time, not just physically, but mentally. I’m doing all kinds of stuff & I am getting ready for the exams. All kinds of crazy things to think about… The question of justification in the ‘new perspecive’ on Paul & whether or not it is a soteriological or ecclesiological issue, resurrection reference and the OT, or tackling those dang aorist and future passive indicatives. It’s great to ask all of these big questions, but as I flashed through empty streets on an early Saturday morning, I was aware that I was in danger of loosing focus.
Everyone has heard the quote about “not seeing the forest for all the trees”, and that very thing is the danger that I realised I live. All this theology. Struggling to come to terms with God. Great stuff, but dangerous if it means that you loose focus on the most simple of truths. Christ died for our sins & came to life three days later, defeating death and giving hope to all those who “confess with their mouths that Jesus is Lord and believe in their hearts that God raised Him from the dead” (Rom 10:9).
“Simplify, simplify, simplify” said Thoreau, “our life is frittered away by detail”. It’s not the first time that I have thought about this stuff, but it seemed to hit me with new clarity. Empty streets speaking to a mind that needs to be emptied of clutter.
My morning proved to be cathartic in this way. Tubeo & Chels turned up on time & despite a lack of actual dawn (dang you clouds) the morning was lovely, the conversation flowed easily & the sculptures themselves were pretty awesome! It was simply a matter of enjoying good company & being moved by man’s little interpretations lying amongst the splendour of God’s awesome creation!
From there we moved to breakfast in Bondi (followed by breakfast again for those who were keen) and more chat before it was back to the real world.
Of course, I need to be passing exams, but it is good to be reminded that we need to spend time not only memorising, but marvelling. The earth, despite the destruction we wreak on it, is an awe inspiring creation!
If you’re in Sydney & you get the chance to swing by Bondi, go check out the efforts of man too…

I’m working on a longer post, after having spent an awesome morning with Craig & Chelsea in Bondi. In the mean time, I’ll leave you with a pic & a teeny-tiny question inspired by some emails with a good friend of mine in the US. Read it how you will.

Do you know who you are? Have you got your own masks? Do you feel like you are really “known”?
It’s good to think about these things….

I guess I am glad that I have something to give. I am starting to acccept more that people ask for my help because they actually like the finished product, not just because I have tbe best tools for it.
4 different jobs today alone. I start thinking I could charge for this & I might make a little extra college-cash. A rare thing, but also a tough one, cause most of the guys here are poorer than I am by a fair whack.
You know, I still enjoy taking photos and I think I am coming to enjoy it more and more the more I do it. I think I should give up trying to explain the appeal of it anyway. It’s just one of those things that makes sense to me.
Of course, I am aware of my limitations. I only have to look at flickr.com and I can see a hundred people who are better than me. Who capture that moment, find that angle, flip that perspective…. but it really doesn’t have to matter that much. In the world of SMBC I am loved an appreciated. two different people in the US told me that they were going to buy frames for pictures I sent them in the mail. Several missionaries use my portraits on their support brochures & I was stoked that two of my good friends wanted to use my pictures for their wedding invite!
I think I may have quoted Eric Liddel before. I think I need to make his most famous quote a little mantra to bring me back to reality. I should be so thankful that others appreciate what I do. That I can be a service to them is a great thing, so I should be willing to give it freely, and after all, “When I am running, I feel His pleasure”..

“L”, one of my little photo projects today. It’s great that his parents came back and asked me to take some more pics for them, 6 months down the track.

I’ve got some ideas for things I would love to blog about. Of course, it is only natural that I be thinking of things I want to blog about when I don’t actually have any real time to write anything. It takes time to fashhion something worth while & time is a scarce commodity at the moment.
I am looking forward to the 22nd of Nov. with great anticipation!
In the mean time, I have been burning the candle at both ends as I fit in study, social stuff and work. Friday night was spent at Youth Group (as usual) but, rather than drive home, I ended up having beers with Kirsty at my fave pub (The Great Northern). Having walked her home, I fully intended to head home myself, before she pulled out the trump card (also known as “Batmaan Begins”, a movie I had not yet seen had been told I had to see).
3:30am, get back home. Not the ideal move to promote a big study day the next day.
Today was Youth Church (great kids) and then study during the day, though I ended up snoozing for an hour on the floor in the office. The sermon was a good one tonight, on 1 Cor 14, and the night was topped off with the return of Shannyn from NZ.
OK, so an early nights sleep to start of my final week of lectures for the year. It sounded like a great idea, but I had to get ready for a test on Psalms tomorrow, then I remembered that I am leading the prayer group for the Persecuted church tomorrow morning too! So here I am again. 12:54… back on the blog trying to unwind a little before I score 6 or 7 hours of sleep & get up ready for another long day tomorrow.
One weird thing is that I am loving it. Loving it all!

I offered to fill in for Daz Man, teaching scripture to his 6th grade kids for the last term. It was a good idea! I love getting to chat to the kids & it is great to be in a classroom & stuff. Getting kids to think abou things & building relationships and all that Jazz. The class starts at 9:30 on Friday morning, so that means I have to get up at like 7:30 if I am going to get out there in plenty of time & get my game-face on. There goes my sleep-in day during the week. Sometimes good ideas can also be bad ideas.
Case in point
I got a message from Kirsty yesterday asking if I wanted to go see a movie that night. Of course, I had youth group, so I had to say no, but I might be free afterwards (a good idea to let people know that you are actually keen to hang out with them). Of course, then she texts me back & says that is great. We can go for a late beer & then watch a DVD at her place!
Catching up with Kirt? Great idea. She is a champ & we get on like a house on fire. Watchinig movies that start at about 12:30, meaning you get home at 3:30… bad idea when Saturday is a study day.
So it is up at 11am, then spending a little time chatting on MSN, and here I sit, now, ready to get some work done.
But it is sunny and warm outside, on nice days like this, even an awesome thing like studying the subject you love most can seem like a bad idea…